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Background: Thyroid cancer and educational attainment have been related in observational studies. It is unclear if these correlations indicate causative relationships. Methods: Using large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) datasets, we conducted an univariable and multivariable Mendelian randomization (MR) study to assess a potential connection between educational attainment and thyroid cancer. The inverse-variance weighted (IVW) analysis method is used as our primary outcome. Additionally, we carry out several sensitivity analyses to evaluate the pleiotropy and robustness of the causal estimates. Results: Univariate MR study shows 4.2 years of additional education is associated with a 41.4% reduction in thyroid cancer risk (OR = 0.586; 95% CI: 0.378–0.909; P = 0.017). Further multivariable MR analysis revealed that body mass index (BMI) acted as a partial mediating factor in the protective impact of higher educational attainment against thyroid cancer. Conclusion: This MR study provided genetic evidence that longer education attainment is related to a lower risk of thyroid cancer. Strategies of expanding education may reduce the burden of thyroid cancer in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lilium rosthornii Diels, commonly known as the Nanchuan lily in China, is a unique wild lily species with potential medicinal or ornamental value. The development and utilization are mainly restricted to its highly efficient regeneration and the scarcity of new germplasm. In this study, an efficient plant regeneration method for Nanchuan lily was established based on embryogenic callus induction, adventitious bud sprouting, and shoot proliferation and rooting. The results showed that Murashige and Skoog (MS) media supplemented with 0.5 mg L−1 picloram (PIC) and 1.0 mg L−1 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) were suitable for embryogenic callus induction using outer bulblet scales (78.89% rate), and MS supplemented with 0.5 mg L−1 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA), 1.0 mg L−1 NAA, and 75.0 mg L−1 ascorbic acid in darkness was optimal for embryogenic callus proliferation (2.62 coefficient). Moreover, callus inoculation in MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg L−1 thidiazuron (TDZ) and 0.1 mg L−1 NAA significantly promoted shoot induction (3.16 coefficient) under relatively low light conditions. The shoot proliferation and rooting of MS plants treated with 0.1 mg L−1 NAA and 0.5 mg L−1 TDZ were greatest under light conditions at 93.33% and 98.89%, respectively. In addition, bulblet growth was induced by treatment with different combinations of colchicine at different concentrations for different durations. Focusing on the bulblet centre, 100% morphological changes were achieved for in vitro induction using 0.15% colchicine for 72 h of treatment. Compared with the control, three stable mutagenic plants with greater guard cells and reduced stomatal density were generated and were identified as chimaeras by flow cytometry analysis. These results provide support for improving tissue reproduction and breeding autotetraploid germplasm in Nanchuan lily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioma is one of the most common malignancies of the central nervous system. The therapeutic effect has not been satisfactory despite advances in comprehensive treatment techniques. Our previous studies have found that triptolide inhibits glioma proliferation through the ROS/JNK pathway, but in-depth mechanisms need to be explored. Recent studies have confirmed that miRNAs may function as tumor suppressor genes or oncogenes and be involved in cancer development and progression. In this study, we found that let-7b-5p expression levels closely correlated with WHO grades and overall survival in patients in tumor glioma-CGGA-mRNAseq-325, and the upregulation of let-7b-5p can inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis of glioma cells. Functionally, upregulation of let-7b-5p increased the inhibitory effect on cell viability and colony formation caused by triptolide and promoted the apoptosis rate of triptolide-treated U251 cells. Conversely, downregulation of let-7b-5p had the opposite effect, indicating that let-7b-5p is a tumor suppressor miRNA in glioma cells. Moreover, target prediction, luciferase reporter assays and functional experiments revealed that IGF1R was a direct target of let-7b-5p. In addition, upregulation of IGF1R reversed the triptolide-regulated inhibition of cell viability but promoted glioma cell apoptosis and activated the ROS/JNK signaling pathway induced by triptolide. The results obtained in vivo experiments substantiated those from the in vitro experiments. In summary, the current study provides evidence that triptolide inhibits the growth of glioma cells by regulating the let-7b-5p-IGF1R-ROS/JNK axis in vitro and in vivo. These findings may provide new ideas and potential targets for molecularly targeted therapies for comprehensive glioma treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthworm cultivation can effectively promote the resource utilization of agricultural waste. The efficient utilization of agricultural waste by earthworms mainly depends on the microbial communities in the guts. This study used silkworm excrement and cow manure as substrates for earthworm cultivation and investigated the associated bacterial communities during earthworms' growth. The survival rate of earthworms remained above 89% after 21 days of feeding with the two substrates. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes constituted the predominant bacterial communities in earthworm growth, accounting for over 81% of the relative abundance in both guts and vermicompost. The bacteria richness and diversity in the foregut and midgut of earthworm were lower than those in the hindgut. The prediction function of intestinal bacterial communities of earthworms cultured with two substrates mainly involved biosynthesis, decomposition and energy production. Highlights: Silkworm excrement and cow manure were used as substrates for earthworm cultivation. Silkworm excrement, like cow manure, is a good substrate for earthworm cultivation. Proteobacteria, Actinomycetes were the dominant bacteria during earthworms' growth. Earthworm activity and gut transit influence the abundance of dominant bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mass production and widespread use of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) posed a great threat to the water environment and human health. In this paper, a green plant-based Bi-Zr bimetallic MOF SU-101.2 was prepared, and the adsorption characteristics were studied with typical PPCPs-Diclofenac sodium (DCF). Compared to SU-101 and SU-102, SU-101.2 showed a significant increase in the adsorption rate of DCF. The adsorption mechanisms between SU-101.2 and DCF were mainly electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding and π-π interactions. Moreover, SU-101.2 also had considerable photocatalytic properties, which was applied to the subsequent treatment of adsorbent desorption, effectively solving the problem of secondary pollution and achieving a green sustainable adsorption and degradation cycle. In all, this work presented an effective adsorbent and a sustainable approach for DCF elimination, which could replace traditional chemical desorption and regenerate the adsorbent via a photocatalytic process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Link prediction aims to capture the evolution of network structure, especially in real social networks, which is conducive to friend recommendations, human contact trajectory simulation, and more. However, the challenge of the stochastic social behaviors and the unstable space-time distribution in such networks often leads to unexplainable and inaccurate link predictions. Therefore, taking inspiration from the success of imitation learning in simulating human driver behavior, we propose a dynamic network link prediction method based on inverse reinforcement learning (DN-IRL) to unravel the motivations behind social behaviors in social networks. Specifically, the historical social behaviors (link sequences) and a next behavior (a single link) are regarded as the current environmental state and the action taken by the agent, respectively. Subsequently, the reward function, which is designed to maximize the cumulative expected reward from expert behaviors in the raw data, is optimized and utilized to learn the agent's social policy. Furthermore, our approach incorporates the neighborhood structure based node embedding and the self-attention modules, enabling sensitivity to network structure and traceability to predicted links. Experimental results on real-world dynamic social networks demonstrate that DN-IRL achieves more accurate and explainable of prediction compared to the baselines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oscillations are ubiquitous in sunspots and the associated higher atmospheres. However, it is still unclear whether these oscillations are driven by the external acoustic waves (p-modes) or generated by the internal magnetoconvection. To obtain clues about the driving source of umbral waves in sunspots, we analyzed the spiral wave patterns (SWPs) in two sunspots registered by IRIS MgII 2796 Å slit-jaw images. By tracking the motion of the SWPs, we found for the first time that two one-armed SWPs coexist in the umbra, and they can rotate either in the same or opposite directions. Furthermore, by analyzing the spatial distribution of the oscillation centers of the one-armed SWPs within the umbra (the oscillation center is defined as the location where the SWP first appears), we found that the chromospheric umbral waves repeatedly originate from the regions with high oscillation power and most of the umbral waves occur in the dark nuclei and strong magnetic field regions of the umbra. Our study results indicate that the chromospheric umbral waves are likely excited by the p-mode oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to develop FeSiAl soft magnetic powder cores (SMPCs) with excellent soft magnetic properties, FeSiAl powder passivated by hexafluorozirconic acid (H2ZrF6) was sucessfully prepared and the effect of different concentrations of H2ZrF6 on the effective permeability (μe) and core loss (Pcv) of FeSiAl SMPCs were systematically studied. H2ZrF6 (0.1 wt% of FeSiAl powder) passivation successfully optimized the soft magnetic properties, when the μe reached 94, the Pcv was only 180 mW/cm3 at 0.05 T and 100 kHz. SEM, XRD, FTIR, XPS, and TEM were used to investigate the microstructure and growth mechanism of the coating layer. The FeSiAl powder was passivated by H2ZrF6 to form a composite coating layer with dominating Fe2O3, Al2O3, SiO2, ZrF4 and a small amount of AlF3, ZrO2, while the AlF3 and ZrO2 content increased significantly after annealing. In addition, this study effectively improved the high frequency characteristics of FeSiAl SMPCs and analyzed the generation of coating layer, providing a feasible way for the insulation treatment of soft magnetic powder cores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The single cleavage drilled compression specimens of sandstone were impacted by the large-diameter split Hopkinson pressure bar, during which the whole model-I dynamical fracture process was successfully observed. A crack propagation gauge is used to monitor the key time moment of dynamic initiation, propagation, arrest and re-initiation, respectively. The fractal crack extension model is used to analysis the propagation speed of the tortuous crack, and with further combination of the experimental–numerical-analytical method, to determine the dynamic initiation toughness, dynamic propagation toughness, dynamic arrest toughness, and dynamic re-initiation toughness of sandstone. The results show that in the process of crack propagation, the crack propagation path is torturous; and for this curved path, the value of the universal function, which is characterized by the crack's velocity, is smaller than that with a straight path. The dynamic propagation toughness thus obtained is closer to its real value by using the fractal model. Sandstone's dynamic initiation toughness is greater than the dynamic arrest toughness, and the dynamic initiation toughness is slightly bigger than the dynamic re-initiation toughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to screen Copy Number Variations (CNVs) in 35 unsolved Inherited Retinal Dystrophy (IRD) families. Initially, next generation sequencing, including a specific Hereditary Eye Disease Enrichment Panel or Whole exome sequencing, was employed to screen (likely) pathogenic Single-nucleotide Variants (SNVs) and small Insertions and Deletions (indels) for these cases. All available SNVs and indels were further validated and co-segregation analyses were performed in available family members by Sanger sequencing. If not, after excluding deep intronic variants, Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA), quantitative fluorescence PCR (QF-PCR) and Sanger sequencing were employed to screen CNVs. We determined that 18 probands who had heterozygous SNVs/indels or whose parents were not consanguineous but had homozygous SNVs/indels in autosomal recessive IRDs genes had CNVs in another allele of these genes, 11 families had disease-causing hemizygous CNVs in X-linked IRD genes, 6 families had (likely) pathogenic heterozygous CNVs in PRPF31 gene. Of 35 families, 33 different CNVs in 16 IRD-associated genes were detected, with PRPF31, EYS and USH2A the most common disease-causing gene in CNVs. Twenty-six and 7 of them were deletion and duplication CNVs, respectively. Among them, 14 CNVs were first reported in this study. Our research indicates that CNVs contribute a lot to IRDs, and screening of CNVs substantially increases the diagnostic rate of IRD. Our results emphasize that MLPA and QF-PCR are ideal methods to validate CNVs, and the novel CNVs reported herein expand the mutational spectrums of IRDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clarify the effect of team state on complex problem solving performance, drawing from the complex problem solving interaction theory, a two-factor mixed experimental design was adopted to explore the impact of collective psychological capital (team state), problem situation complexity on team and individual problem-solving performance through two experiments. Data were gathered through a sample of 390 members of 130 teams, with 66 teams in the experimental group and 64 teams in the control group. The results showed that the main effects of collective psychological capital and problem situation complexity on both team and individual member problem-solving performance were significant, and the interaction effects were also significant. Further simple effects analysis revealed that teams with higher collective psychological capital had less negative effects of problem situation complexity on problem-solving performance. This finding indicates that collective psychological capital has a positive effect on the teams and individual members of complex problem-solving performance, and that the negative effects of problem situation complexity are buffered in teams with higher collective psychological capital. This finding is also indicates that the team itself, as a microenvironment, has a multifaceted impact on the psychology and behavior of the team and individual members. At the same time, the formation of an effective team allows investment in terms of collective psychological capital, which is one way to increase and maintain competitiveness and a cost-saving optimization option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the key topics and emerging trends in the field of cardiorenal syndrome type 4 (CRS-4) by bibliometrics and visual analysis. Methods: Citespace, VOSviewer, and Bibliometrix package were used to analyze the collected data from the Web of Science Core Collection, including publication trends, leading countries, active authors and institutions, co-cited references, journals, and keyword analysis. Results: Finally, 2267 articles were obtained. From 2004 to 2022, the number of publications was increasing year by year. A total of 735 authors from 543 institutions in 94 countries/regions participated in the publication of CRS-4 field, which were mostly from North America and Europe. Most of the co-cited references were reviews or guidelines from kidney/heart specialist journals or top journals. The journals concerning nephrology had a higher academic influence in this field. Oxidative stress and inflammation remained hot topics in CRS-4 research, as well as uremic toxins. Fibroblast growth factor 23 and klotho were emerging trends in recent years. Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors were the latest frontier hot spots. Future research advances may pay more attention to the prevention and prognosis assessment of CRS-4. Conclusion: Our study provides some key information for scholars to determine the direction of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a considerable challenge to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of ending poverty and maintaining ecosystems' function in rural areas, largely due to that the rural people's livelihood relied heavily on fragile ecosystems. China is ambitious to solve this issue by enacting economic stimulus policies such as ecological protection compensation and payment for ecosystem services (ESs). However, these interventions are generally based on stockholders' willingness and lack of scientific basis. Here, we firstly combined InVEST model and social-economic data to evaluate the ecosystem services supply and demand (ESSD), by taking 25 key counties to receive assistance in pursuing rural revitalization in Sichuan province as the study cases. The coupling coordination degree model was then employed to measure the coordination relationship of ESSD. Finally, the driving factors were analyzed based on correlation analysis and stepwise regression method. The results showed that all ESs, except carbon sequestration, were oversupplied with significant spatial heterogeneity. From 2000 to 2020, the supply of all ESs increased, in which the food production had the most notable increase ratio amounting to 48.20%, while the demand of water retention and air purification decreased substantially. Due to the inconsistency between cultivated land area and population changes, significant spatial heterogeneity existed in the coordination relationship of food production. The counties with the highest and the lowest annual average coordination index were Yanyuan (0.9950) and Rangtang (0.1208), respectively. The rural employees and the agricultural gross output value were the key positive factors influencing the quantity and coordination of ESSD, while ecological compensation and financial expenditure had no significant impact, further indicating that these policies were not linked to the performance of ecosystems' function. Finally, policy implications were raised. This study provides a scientific framework for enacting the interventions towards ecological sustainability and poverty ending from ESSD perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current use of the single serum biomarker α-fetoprotein (AFP) in clinical practice has limitations in terms of specificity and sensitivity. We propose a strategy that combines antigen capture polymerase chain reaction (AC-PCR), lateral flow assay (LFA), and electrochemical biosensors to detect both AFP and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in liver cancer serum. First, we used the AC-PCR technique to achieve target separation, purification, signal conversion, and amplification, eliminating target heterogeneity. Then, we achieved rapid results through the LFA and electrochemical biosensor platforms. As a result, the proposed assay has limits of 5 cells/mL for CTCs and 5 µg/L for AFP. The proposed method was applied effectively to simulated blood samples. This method has the potential to play a role in early liver cancer and provide a potential application for the diagnosis and precision treatment of liver cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Heart failure (HF) remains a major cause of late morbidity and mortality after myocardial infarction (MI). To date, no clinically established 18F-labeled sympathetic nerve PET tracers for monitoring myocardial infarction are available. Therefore, in this study, we synthesized a series of 18F-labeled benzyl guanidine analogs and evaluated their efficacy as cardiac neuronal norepinephrine transporter (NET) tracers for myocardial imaging. We also investigated the preliminary diagnostic capabilities of these tracers in myocardial infarction animal models, as well as the structure-activity relationship of these tracers. Procedures: Three benzyl guanidine-NET tracers, including [18F]1, [18F]2, and [18F]3, were synthesized and evaluated in vivo as PET tracers in a myocardial infarction mouse model. [18F]LMI1195 was used as a positive control for the tracers. H&E staining of the isolated myocardial infarction heart tissue sections was performed to verify the efficacy of the selected PET tracer. Results: Our data show that [18F]3 had a moderate decay corrected labeling yield (~10%) and high radiochemical purity (>95%) compared to other tracers. The uptake of [18F]3 in normal mouse hearts was 1.7±0.1%ID/cc at 1 h post-injection (p. i.), while it was 2.4±0.1, 2.6±0.9, and 2.1±0.4%ID/cc in the MI mouse hearts at 1, 2, and 3 days after surgery, respectively. Compared with [18F]LMI1195, [18F]3 had a better myocardial imaging effect in terms of the contrast between normal and MI hearts. The area of myocardial infarction shown by PET imaging corresponded well with the infarcted tissue demonstrated by H&E staining. Conclusions: With an obvious cardiac uptake contrast between normal mice and the myocardial infarction mouse model, [18F]3 appears to be a potential tool in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct further structural modification studies on the chemical structure of [18F]3 to improve its in vivo stability and diagnostic detection ability to achieve reliable and practical imaging effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Fingerprint' identification is the key to turquoise provenance studies, but previous studies have met with limited success in China. Turquoises in China mainly occur in altered sedimentary rocks and are formed by weathering, leaching and sedimentation. This paper evaluates the potential for sedimentary environment sensitive elements to be used to distinguish between turquoise deposits in China. In this paper, the ratios of V/Mo, Ce/Ce*, Ni/Co, Sr/Ba, Tl/Ga, Li/Ba and V/Cr were calculated for turquoise of different origins. Our results show that these parameters when used alongside Ga concentration permit effective discrimination between turquoise sources in China. This approach brings to light a new means of analyzing trace element databases and an untapped wealth of information that can be used for future turquoise provenance studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The radiopharmaceutical [18F]AlF-NOTA-FAPI-04 presents a promising alternative to 68 Ga-FAPI owing to its relatively longer half-life. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical usefulness of [18F]AlF-NOTA-FAPI-04 PET/CT for the diagnosis of primary and metastatic lesions in various types of gastrointestinal system cancers, compared with 18F-FDG PET/CT. Methods: Patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal system malignancies were prospectively enrolled. All patients underwent both 18F-FDG and 18F-FAPI-04 PET/CT scans within one week, with 44 (73.3%) for cancer staging and 16 (26.7%) for tumor restaging. Diagnostic efficacy of the primary tumor, as well as the presence and number of lymph nodes and distant metastases, were assessed. Tumor uptake was quantified by the maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax). Results: For detection of primary tumor, the diagnostic sensitivity of 18F-FDG PET/CT was 72.7%, while it was 97.7% for 18F-FAPI-04 PET/CT. Based on per-lymph node analysis, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 18F-FAPI-04 PET/CT in diagnosing metastatic lymph nodes were 91.89%, 92.00%, and 91.96%, respectively. These values were notably higher than those 18F-FDG PET/CT (79.72%, 81.33% and 80.80%, respectively). The 18F-FAPI-04 PET/CT surpassed 18F-FDG PET/CT in detecting suspected metastases in the brain (7 vs. 3), liver (39 vs. 20), bone (79 vs. 51), lung (11 vs. 4), and peritoneal carcinoma (48 vs. 22). Based on per-patient analysis, differential diagnostic accuracies (18F-FAPI-04 vs. 18F-FDG PET/CT) were observed in all patients (91.7% vs. 76.7%), the initial staging group (90.9% vs. 79.5%), and the re-staging group (93.8% vs. 68.7%). Additionally, 18F-FAPI-04 PET/CT revised final diagnosis in 31.7% of patients, contrasting with 18F-FDG PET/CT, and prompted changes in clinical management for 21.7% of the patients. Conclusion: 18F-FAPI-04 PET/CT outperforms 18F-FDG PET/CT in delineating the primary gastrointestinal tumors and detecting suspected metastatic lesions due to a higher target-to-background ratio (TBR). Moreover, 18F-FAPI-04 PET/CT could provide valuable guidance for tumor staging, thereby having a potential impact on patient management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imbalanced Alfvénic turbulence is a universal process playing a crucial role in energy transfer in space, astrophysical, and laboratory plasmas. A fundamental and long-lasting question about the imbalanced Alfvénic turbulence is how and through which mechanism the energy transfers between scales. Here, we show that the energy transfer of imbalanced Alfvénic turbulence is completed by coherent interactions between Alfvén waves and co-propagating anomalous fluctuations. These anomalous fluctuations are generated by nonlinear couplings instead of linear reflection. We also reveal that the energy transfer of the waves and the anomalous fluctuations is carried out mainly through local-scale and large-scale nonlinear interactions, respectively, responsible for their bifurcated power-law spectra. This work unveils the energy transfer physics of imbalanced Alfvénic turbulence, and advances the understanding of imbalanced Alfvénic turbulence observed by Parker Solar Probe in the inner heliosphere.How and via which mechanism the energy transfers between scales in imbalanced Alfvénic turbulence is an open question. Here, the authors show that the energy transfer of imbalanced Alfvénic turbulence is completed by coherent interactions between Alfvén waves and co-propagating anomalous fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CDK4/6 are important regulators of cell cycle and their inhibitors have been approved as anti-cancer drugs. Here, we report a STING-dependent anti-tumor immune mechanism responsible for tumor suppression by CDK4/6 blockade. Clinical datasets show that in human tissues, CDK4 and CDK6 are over-expressed and their expressions are negatively correlated with patients' overall survival and T cell infiltration. Deletion of Cdk4 or Cdk6 in tumor cells significantly reduce tumor growth. Mechanistically, we find that Cdk4 or Cdk6 deficiency contributes to an increased level of endogenous DNA damage, which triggers the cGAS-STING signaling pathway to activate type I interferon response. Knockout of Sting is sufficient to reverse and partially reverse the anti-tumor effect of Cdk4 and Cdk6 deficiency respectively. Therefore, our findings suggest that CDK4/6 inhibitors may enhance anti-tumor immunity through the STING-dependent type I interferon response. The work suggests that DNA damage induced by either Cdk4 or Cdk6 knockout triggers anti-tumor immune responses through the STING-dependent type I interferon response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel bio-based multi-block copolyester, poly(2,5-tetrahydrofurandimethanol 2,5-furandicarboxylate)-multi-poly(1,3-propylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PTPF), was synthesized by the melt interfacial co-polycondensation of poly(2,5-tetrahydrofurandimethanol 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PTF) and poly(1,3-propylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PPF). Owing to the partially alternating and partially random copolymer structure, PTPF showed thermoplastic properties intermediate between those of PTF and PPF, which was different from those of the corresponding PTF/PPF random copolymer. The chemical structures and properties of these copolyesters were investigated by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, FTIR, DSC, TGA and torque rheometer. Similar solubility parameters between PTF and PPF were obtained by theoretical calculations, indicating the good compatibility between these two copolyesters. The Tg of PTF (75.2°C) was higher than that of PPF (56.1°C), suggesting the stronger rigidity of THFDM compared with 1,3-PDO. In addition, a significant shear thinning phenomenon was observed in the rheological test. Due to the unique thermal and rheological properties, PTPF may potentially be an alternative in the manufacture of fiber and film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a correction notice for an article titled "Let-7b-5p promotes triptolide-induced growth-inhibiting effects in glioma by targeting IGF1R" published in Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology. The correction addresses an error in Figure 2 of the original article, where the Western blot bands were mixed up with another batch of images. The authors provide the corrected Figure 2, assuring that this correction does not change the study's conclusion. The document also includes a note from the publisher stating their neutrality regarding jurisdictional claims and institutional affiliations. [Extracted from the article]

Machine perception uses advanced sensors to collect information about the surrounding scene for situational awareness1–7. State-of-the-art machine perception8 using active sonar, radar and LiDAR to enhance camera vision9 faces difficulties when the number of intelligent agents scales up10,11. Exploiting omnipresent heat signal could be a new frontier for scalable perception. However, objects and their environment constantly emit and scatter thermal radiation, leading to textureless images famously known as the ‘ghosting effect’12. Thermal vision thus has no specificity limited by information loss, whereas thermal ranging—crucial for navigation—has been elusive even when combined with artificial intelligence (AI)13. Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate heat-assisted detection and ranging (HADAR) overcoming this open challenge of ghosting and benchmark it against AI-enhanced thermal sensing. HADAR not only sees texture and depth through the darkness as if it were day but also perceives decluttered physical attributes beyond RGB or thermal vision, paving the way to fully passive and physics-aware machine perception. We develop HADAR estimation theory and address its photonic shot-noise limits depicting information-theoretic bounds to HADAR-based AI performance. HADAR ranging at night beats thermal ranging and shows an accuracy comparable with RGB stereovision in daylight. Our automated HADAR thermography reaches the Cramér–Rao bound on temperature accuracy, beating existing thermography techniques. Our work leads to a disruptive technology that can accelerate the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0)14 with HADAR-based autonomous navigation and human–robot social interactions.Heat-assisted detection and ranging is experimentally shown to see texture and depth through darkness as if it were day, and also perceives decluttered physical attributes beyond RGB or thermal vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is considered a malignant tumor with a high mortality rate. To combat this disease, exploring the mechanism of T-ALL progression is urgently needed. Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) are known as the transcription factors and mediate series of biological processes. KLF9 is a member of the KLF family which could serve as a tumor suppressor gene in most solid tumors. GEO Database analysis showed that KLF9 expression in normal T cells was higher than T-ALL cell lines and patients. However, the possible role of KLF9 in T-ALL progression is still unclear. Objective: To uncover the possible effects of Krüppel-like transcription factor 9 (KLF9) on the progression of T-Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). Results: The expression of KLF9 was low in human T-ALL cells. KLF9 suppressed the viability of T-ALL cells. In addition, KLF9 stimulated the apoptosis as well as autophagy of T-ALL cells. Mechanically, KLF9 suppressed AKT/mTOR pathway in T-ALL cells. Conclusion: KLF9 suppressed viability and promoted autophagy as well as apoptosis in T-ALL cells by inhibiting AKT/mTOR pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Camellia oleifera C.Abel is an important oilseed crop. While germplasm resources have been widely collected and conserved, their genetic diversity remained to be explored effectively. Therefore, genomic libraries were constructed and sequenced, and all clean reads were assembled into 673,863 unigenes. In total, 27,953 SSRs were detected from all the unigenes, and 17,517 SSR primer pairs were successfully designed. Furthermore, we re-evaluated the genetic diversity of the germplasm bank of C. oleifera using 22 SSR markers. The number of alleles (Na), the effective number of alleles (Ne), the Shannon index (I), the polymorphic information index (PIC) ranged from 4 to 25 (mean of 11.41), 2.014 to 9.284 (mean of 4.800), 0.716 to 2.471 (mean of 1.682), 0.380 to 0.883 (mean of 0.717), respectively. Finally, a core collection consisting of 45 samples (15% of the 300 trees in the entire germplasm bank) was developed, the genetic diversity parameters of which showed nonsignificant differences from the entire germplasm bank. Genomic SSR development, the re-evaluation of genetic diversity and the development of a core collection from the germplasm bank in this study provided useful tools, abundant genetic resources and an effective collection for the utilization and deep exploration of C. oleifera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute idiopathic polyneuropathy which is related to infection and immune mechanism. The exact pathogenesis of the disease is unknown and treatment is limited. Thus, the purpose of the study is to identify biomarkers of GBS serum and elucidate their involvement in the underlying pathogenesis of GBS that could help to treat GBS more accurately. Antibody array technology was used to detect the expression levels of 440 proteins in serum of 5 GBS group and 5 healthy control group. Sixty-seven differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified by antibody array, among which FoLR1, Legumain, ErbB4, IL-1α, MIP-1α and IGF-2 were down-regulated, while 61 proteins were up-regulated. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that most DEPs were associated with leukocytes, among which IL-1α, SDF-1b, B7-1, CD40, CTLA4, IL-9, MIP-1α and CD40L were in the center of protein–protein interaction (PPI) network. Subsequently, the ability of these DEPs to distinguish GBS from healthy control was further evaluated. CD23 was identified by means of Random Forests Analysis (RFA) and verified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The ROC curve result of CD23 respectively displayed that its sensitivity, specificity and AUC were 0.818, 0.800 and 0.824. We speculate that activation of leukocyte proliferation and migration in circulating blood might be associated with inflammatory recruitment of peripheral nerves, leading to the occurrence and development of GBS, but this conclusion still requires deeper confirmation. More importantly, central proteins may play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of GBS. In addition, we detected IL-1α, IL-9, and CD23 in the serum of GBS patients for the first time, which may be promising biomarkers for the treatment of GBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the therapeutic efficacy, feasibility, and safety of total parathyroidectomy (tPTX) in the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT). Methods: The clinical data of 34 SHPT patients admitted to the Department of Nephrology, Yuxi People's Hospital, from January 2018 to January 2021 who had received tPTX, were retrospectively analyzed. The indications for tPTX were severe SHPT that did not respond to medical treatment and was ineligible for kidney transplantation. tPTX without autotransplantation was adopted to compare the level of symptom relief and changes in serum intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), blood calcium, and blood phosphorus pre- and postoperatively. Results: In 34 patients, 142 parathyroid glands were removed, including 21 ectopic parathyroid glands (14.78%). Six patients (17.64%, 6/34) had supernumerary parathyroid glands. At 6 h postoperatively, arthralgia and bone pain were significantly reduced to almost zero in 94.12% (32/34) of patients. At 24 h postoperatively, relief of bone pain and improvement of limb movement were observed in 100% (34/34) of patients, and pruritus almost disappeared in 86.36% (19/22) of patients. There were significant differences in iPTH (χ2 = 134.93, P < 0.05), calcium (χ2 = 23.02, P < 0.05), and phosphorus (χ2 = 102.11, P < 0.05) levels preoperatively and 40 min, 24 h, 1 week, half a year, and last available (> 1 year) postoperatively. The patients were followed up for 15–47 months (median 33 months). Hypoparathyroidism was observed in three patients, who underwent neck dissection or partial thymotomy concurrently for different reasons. No intractable hypocalcemia or adynamic bone disease occurred during the follow-up period. Conclusion: In SHPT patients who were ineligible for renal transplantation, tPTX was effective, safe, and reliable, with a low recurrence rate. However, when tPTX was performed alone without autologous transplantation, bilateral neck exploration was sufficient, and central neck dissection and thymic resection were inadvisable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thymocyte selection-associated high-mobility group box protein (TOX) is an important molecule regulating the development and exhaustion of T lymphocytes. Our aim is to investigate the role of TOX in the immune pathogenesis of pure red cell aplasia (PRCA). TOX expression of CD8+ lymphocytes from the peripheral blood of patients with PRCA was detected by flow cytometry. Additionally, the expression of immune checkpoint molecules PD1 and LAG3 and cytotoxic molecules perforin and granzyme B of CD8+ lymphocytes was measured. The quantity of CD4+CD25+CD127low T cells was analyzed. TOX expression on CD8+ T lymphocytes in PRCA patients was significantly increased (40.73 ± 16.03 vs. 28.38 ± 12.20). The expression levels of PD1 and LAG3 on CD8+ T lymphocytes in PCRA patients were significantly higher than those in the control group (34.18 ± 13.26 vs. 21.76 ± 9.22 and 14.17 ± 13.74 vs. 7.24 ± 5.44, respectively). The levels of perforin and granzyme in CD8+ T lymphocytes of PRCA patients were 48.60 ± 19.02 and 46.66 ± 25.49, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the control group (31.46 ± 7.82 and 16.17 ± 4.84, respectively). The number of CD4+CD25+CD127low Treg cells in PRCA patients was significantly decreased (4.30 ± 1.27 vs. 1.75 ± 1.22). In PRCA patients, CD8+ T cells were activated and exhibited overexpression of TOX, PD1, LAG3, perforin, and granzyme B, while regulatory T cells decreased. These findings suggest that T cell abnormality plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of PRCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing efficient and stable electrocatalysts to improve the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with slow reaction kinetics is essential to improve hydrogen production from electrochemical water splitting. This research has prepared a series of FeOOH/Ni(HCO3)2 heterostructured materials (denoted as FeOOHx/Ni(HCO3)2) by a one-pot solvothermal method. The OER performance of the catalysts was maximized by finely tuning the content of different components, heterogeneous interfaces, and electronic structures. Specifically, the obtained FeOOH0.60/Ni(HCO3)2 heterostructured nanosheets had the lowest overpotential of 216 mV at a current density of 10 mA·cm−2 and were stable at a high current density of 100 mA·cm−2 for more than 96 h. The excellent OER activity and stability were still maintained in alkaline natural seawater (1 M KOH + seawater). When FeOOH0.60/Ni(HCO3)2 was used as the anode for water splitting, the electrolyzer provided a current density of 10 mA·cm−2 at a very low cell voltage of 1.51 V (1.56 V at 1 M KOH + seawater) and exhibited superior stability. The outstanding OER performance is ascribed to the synergistic effect of FeOOH and Ni(HCO3)2 upon heterostructure formation, as well as the altered electronic structure between the heterogeneous interfaces and the suitable hierarchical nanosheet morphology facilitating many active sites. This work provides a promising direction for improving the electrocatalytic activity of nickel-based catalysts in seawater splitting, which has important implications for both hydrogen economy and environmental remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collagen I, the most abundant protein in humans, is ubiquitous in solid tumors where it provides a rich source of exploitable metabolic fuel for cancer cells. While tumor cells were unable to exploit collagen directly, here we show they can usurp metabolic byproducts of collagen-consuming tumor-associated stroma. Using genetically engineered mouse models, we discovered that solid tumor growth depends upon collagen binding and uptake mediated by the TEM8/ANTXR1 cell surface protein in tumor-associated stroma. Tumor-associated stromal cells processed collagen into glutamine, which was then released and internalized by cancer cells. Under chronic nutrient starvation, a condition driven by the high metabolic demand of tumors, cancer cells exploited glutamine to survive, an effect that could be reversed by blocking collagen uptake with TEM8 neutralizing antibodies. These studies reveal that cancer cells exploit collagen-consuming stromal cells for survival, exposing an important vulnerability across solid tumors with implications for developing improved anticancer therapy. Collagen can be a metabolic source to fuel cancer growth. Here the authors show that cell surface protein TEM8 mediates the binding and uptake of collagen in stromal cells and these cells processed the collagen to glutamine, providing an alternative energy source for tumour cells to grow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolved gases from AdBlue decomposition with different catalysts (Ti, Zr, Pt, SiO2, and γ-Al2O3) were analyzed with a thermogravimetric analyzer coupled to a mass spectrometer (TG-MS). Kinetic parameters of AdBlue decomposition process were calculated by Kissinger–Akahira–Sunoe (KAS) and Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) methods. The results show that γ-Al2O3 is the best pyrolysis catalyst, and it promotes the decomposition of urea. The gaseous products (H2O, NH3, CHNO, CO2) were detected by MS at different reaction stages, resulting from the decomposition of urea and the formation of intermediate products. With the KAS method, the calculated activation energies with the same fractional conversion for three stages are 133.20 ± 3.71–151.14 ± 7.78 kJ/mol, 128.93 ± 3.13–186.09 ± 3.92 kJ/mol, and 326.00 ± 17.58–465.09 ± 17.62 kJ/mol, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the clinical usefulness of the enhanced-T1WI-based deep learning radiomics model (DLRM) in differentiating low- and high-grade meningiomas. Methods: A total of 132 patients with pathologically confirmed meningiomas were consecutively enrolled (105 in the training cohort and 27 in the test cohort). Radiomics features and deep learning features were extracted from T1 weighted images (T1WI) (both axial and sagittal) and the maximum slice of the axial tumor lesion, respectively. Then, the synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) was utilized to balance the sample numbers. The optimal discriminative features were selected for model building. LightGBM algorithm was used to develop DLRM by a combination of radiomics features and deep learning features. For comparison, a radiomics model (RM) and a deep learning model (DLM) were constructed using a similar method as well. Differentiating efficacy was determined by using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: A total of 15 features were selected to construct the DLRM with SMOTE, which showed good discrimination performance in both the training and test cohorts. The DLRM outperformed RM and DLM for differentiating low- and high-grade meningiomas (training AUC: 0.988 vs. 0.980 vs. 0.892; test AUC: 0.935 vs. 0.918 vs. 0.718). The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the DLRM with SMOTE were 0.926, 0.900, and 0.924 in the test cohort, respectively. Conclusion: The DLRM with SMOTE based on enhanced T1WI images has favorable performance for noninvasively individualized prediction of meningioma grades, which exhibited favorable clinical usefulness superior over the radiomics features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) caused by Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l.) is a globally distributed zoonosis. CE treatment is difficult, but radiation and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) can be effective. However, the combination of radiation and 5-FU has not been reported. This study evaluated the effect of combination of 5-FU and radiation on E. granulosus s.l. protoscoleces (PSCs). Material and Methods: In this study, PSCs were collected from the liver of diseased sheep, and some were exposed to a single dose of 20 Gy 6-MV X-ray combined with (5 μg/mL or 10 μg/mL) 5-FU in vitro. Methylene blue staining was used to detect the viability of the PSCs. Transcription of EgHSP70 and Egp38 was measured by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT- PCR). Results: A single dose of radiation killed 18% of the PSCs, and 5-FU showed weak parasiticidal efficacy on the first day of treatment. After 14 d, 5 μg and 10 μg/mL of 5-FU killed 40.20% and 50.02% of the PSCs, whereas 20 Gy of radiation killed 31.44%. The combination of 5-FU (10 μg/mL) with 20 Gy of radiation showed 77.55% killing efficacy. qRT-PCR showed that 5-FU inhibited Egp38 expression, whereas radiation increased its expression. EgHSP70 was highly expressed 14 days after radiation treatment. The data indicate that 5-FU has parasiticidal efficacy against the PSCs of E. granulosus s.l. Conclusion: The lethal efficacy of PSCs caused by a single dose of radiation exposure is related to the upregulated expression level of Egp38 and EgHSP70. The killing effect of 5-FU (10 μg/mL) with 20Gy of radiation was significantly better than that of single treatment group. This study provided a basis for the potential role of 5-FU combined with radiation in the treatment of CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic variants that regulate lipid phosphate phosphatase 3 (LPP3) expression are risk factors for the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. LPP3 is dynamically upregulated in the context of vascular inflammation with particularly heightened expression in smooth muscle cells (SMC), however, the impact of LPP3 on vascular pathology is not fully understood. We investigated the role of LPP3 and lysophospholipid signaling in a well-defined model of pathologic aortic injury and observed Angiotensin II (Ang II) increases expression of PLPP3 in SMCs through nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling Plpp3 global reduction (Plpp3+/−) or SMC-specific deletion (SM22-Δ) protects hyperlipidemic mice from AngII-mediated aneurysm formation. LPP3 expression regulates SMC differentiation state and lowering LPP3 levels promotes a fibroblast-like phenotype. Decreased inactivation of bioactive lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) in settings of LPP3 deficiency may underlie these phenotypes because deletion of LPA receptor 4 in mice promotes early aortic dilation and rupture in response to AngII. LPP3 expression and LPA signaling influence SMC and vessel wall responses that are important for aortic dissection and aneurysm formation. These findings could have important implications for therapeutics targeting LPA metabolism and signaling in ongoing clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Botrytis cinerea induced expression of 15 LrWRKY genes; overexpression of LrWRKY39 and LrWRKY41a increased resistance and susceptibility, respectively, to B. cinerea in a manner related to SA and JA signaling. WRKY transcription factors (TFs), a large family, play important roles in coping with biotic stresses. Lilium regale Wilson is a lily species with strong resistance to fungi and viruses; however, functional characterization of LrWRKY TFs remains very limited. Here, a total of 25 LrWRKY members were identified from the L. regale transcriptome, and 15 LrWRKY genes were significantly induced by Botrytis cinerea. Based on their structural features, B. cinerea-responsive LrWRKY genes could be classified into six subgroups (Groups I, IIa–d, and III), and sequence alignment showed that 12 LrWRKY proteins have a well-conserved WRKYGQK domain, while 3 LrWRKYs have a variant sequence (WRKYGKK or WRMYEQK). Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed tissue-specific expression of B. cinerea-responsive LrWRKY genes and their expression profiles in response to defense-related hormones salicylic acid (SA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and hydrogen peroxide. LrWRKY39 and LrWRKY41a, which encode two LrWRKY TFs with different three-dimensional (3D) models of the WRKY domain, were cloned, and both proteins were targeted to the nucleus. Overexpression of LrWRKY39 and LrWRKY41a in Arabidopsis thaliana increased the resistance and susceptibility to B. cinerea, respectively, compared to the wild type. Similar results were also observed in tobacco and lily (L. longiflorum 'Snow Queen') by transient transformation analyses. Their distinct roles may be related to changes in the transcript levels of SA-/JA-responsive genes. Our results provide new insights into B. cinerea-responsive LrWRKY members and the biological functions of two different 3D models of LrWRKY TFs in defense responses to B. cinerea infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cafe-au-lait macules (CALMs) affect the appearance of patients and can result in serious psychological problems. Successful treatments without adverse effects remain challenging. We designed a prospective, randomized, controlled, evaluator-blinded trial on 40 pediatric patients to compare the efficacy between a low-fluence 1064-nm Q-switched Nd:YAG laser and a Q-switched Nd:YAG 532-nm laser for the treatment of solitary CALMs in children. We randomly assigned participants into 2 groups. We treated those in the first group with 3 sessions of 532-nm QS laser at 1-month intervals, and those in the second group with 6 sessions of 1064-nm LFQS laser at 2-week intervals. We found no significant differences in treatment efficacy (p = 0.14). The 1064-nm laser group referred significantly less pain than the 532-nm laser group (p = 0.0001). Side effects were detected in 5 patients in the 532-nm laser group. The difference of the side effects was statistically significant (p = 0.04). Two patients in 532-nm laser group were recurred and none in 1064-nm laser group. On a univariate logistic regression analysis, lesions with brown color, small size, and irregular edges were significantly associated with better outcomes (> 50% clearance). Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that brown lesions and lesions with irregular edges had higher odds of getting > 50% clearance (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the 1064-nm LFQS laser produced fewer side effects, less pain, and shorter recovery time than the 532-nm laser. Irregular-bordered, smaller, brown lesions improved better than smooth-bordered, larger, light brown lesions. Moreover, the 1064-nm laser may be a better choice for treating large size CALMs. However, no significant differences were found in terms of the treatment efficacy and recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel Ti/Zn-TiN catalyst-toner combination has been prepared for the in-situ polycondensation of terephthalic acid and 1,3-propanediol. The combination showed superior effects on the control of the polymerization as well as the quality of the poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) products. Structure and thermal stability of synthesized polymers were studied by means of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), proton-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In compared with PTT synthesized by using other titanium catalysts, PTT produced by using this method showed better color value, better thermal stability and better mechanical performance. This novel eco-friendly nontoxic Ti/Zn-TiN catalyst-toner combination can be developed into a good environmentally friendly catalytic system for polyester synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, F-type-5 m intersections are not uncommon. One approach of these intersections usually includes a driveway closely followed by an intersecting street, and the driveway and the intersecting street are parallel and approximately 5 m apart. Nowadays, drivers often rely on the navigation systems for directions. However, it is found that the navigation systems sometimes mislead or confuse drivers to make wrong turns or miss their turns at such F-type-5 m intersections. This study proposed to employ driving simulation to identify the appropriate prompt message delivered at the right prompt timing to help drivers navigate through such F-type-5 m intersections. First, a within-subjects two-factor experiment was designed. One factor was the Prompt Timing Mode (PTM), representing a set of three sequential messages broadcast by the navigation system at varying distances to the intended intersection; the other factor was the Prompt Message Type (PMT), representing various sets of three sequential messages broadcast by the navigation system. Three Prompt Timing Modes were used: PTM1 = {− 400 m, -200 m, − 30 m}, PTM2 = {− 300 m, − 150 m, − 30 m}, and PTM3 = {− 200 m, − 100 m, − 30 m}. Three Prompt Message Types were defined: PMT-A = {Turn right at the traffic light XXm ahead; Turn right at the traffic light XXm ahead; Turn right}, PMT-B = {Turn right at the traffic light XXm ahead, enter YY street; Turn right at the traffic light XXm ahead, enter YY street; Turn right}, PMT-C = {Turn right at the traffic light XXm ahead, enter YY street, and please use the second right turn lane; Turn right at the traffic light XXm ahead, enter YY street, and please use the second right turn lane; Turn right}. The combinations of the two factors generated nine experimental intersections which were randomly assigned to three experimental routes. Then, a total of 37 drivers were recruited, and participated in the driving simulation experiment from which vehicle operation data were collected under different prompt timing modes and message types. Next, the repeated Analysis of Variance (rANOVA) was performed to examine the effects of different prompt timing modes and prompt message types on vehicle operation indicators, such as Driving Time, Standard Deviation of Speed, Absolute Value of Acceleration, and Standard Deviation of Acceleration. Finally, the grey near-optimal method was adopted to evaluate the effectiveness of three prompt message types under each prompt timing mode. The rANOVA results showed the vehicle operation in the F-type-5 m intersection was affected by prompt timing modes and prompt message types; the evaluation results indicated that PMT-C made drivers perform better in PTM1 and PTM3, while PMT-B made drivers perform better inPTM2. However, the effectiveness of PMT-A was the lowest in each prompt timing mode. The research results provide valuable guidance to design the human machine interface of navigation systems, which can help drivers safely navigate through F-type-5 m intersections. This research also has laid solid foundations for establishing navigation messaging design guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People are assumed to represent themselves in terms of body ownership and agency. Studies using the rubber- or virtual-hand illusion have assessed ownership and agency by means of explicit ownership and agency ratings and implicit measures, like proprioceptive drift in the case of ownership. These measures often show similar effects but also some discrepancies, suggesting that they rely on data sources that overlap, but not completely. To systematically assess commonalities and discrepancies, we adopted an immersed virtual hand illusion (VHI) design, in which three independent factors were manipulated: the synchrony between the movement of real and virtual effector, the type of effector, which was a virtual hand or triangle, and the spatial congruency between the real and virtual effector. Commonalities and discrepancies in the effects of these factors were assessed by crossing explicit and implicit measures for ownership and agency. While standard ratings were used as explicit measures, implicit ownership was assessed by means of proprioceptive drift and implicit agency by means of intentional binding. Results showed similar effect patterns for the two agency measures, which, however, were not correlated, different effect patterns for the two ownership measures, and a strong correlation between the two explicit measures. Taken altogether, our findings suggest that explicit and implicit measures of ownership and agency partly rely on shared informational sources, but seem to differ with respect to other sources that are integrated or with respect to the processed dimension (shape vs. time). The findings also suggest that some findings obtained with RHI designs might reflect more the unnatural situation that that design puts individuals into rather than generalizable mechanisms of computing perceived ownership and agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Epidemiological studies have suggested that adipsin and visfatin are associated with the development of type 2 diabetes. This is the first study to investigate the effects of supplementation with purified anthocyanins on serum adipsin and visfatin in patients with prediabetes or newly diagnosed diabetes. Methods: A total of 160 participants with prediabetes or newly diagnosed diabetes (40–75 years old) were given 320 mg anthocyanins or placebo daily for 12 weeks in a randomized trial. Serum adipsin, serum visfatin, lipids and glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were measured. The areas under the curve (AUCs) for glucose, insulin and C-peptide were determined before-and after-treatment by a standard 3-h 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Results: Relatively significant increases in serum adipsin (net change 0.15 µg/mL [0.03, 0.27], p = 0.018) and decreases in visfatin (−3.5 ng/mL [−6.69, −0.31], p = 0.032) were observed between the anthocyanins and placebo groups. We also observed significant improvements in HbA1c (−0.11% [−0.22, −0.11], p = 0.033), apolipoprotein A-1 (apo A-1) (0.12 g/L [0.03, 0.21], p = 0.012) and apolipoprotein B (apo B) (−0.07 g/L [−0.14, −0.01], p = 0.033) in response to the anthocyanins intervention. Conclusion: Purified anthocyanins supplementation for 12 weeks increased serum adipsin and decreased serum visfatin in patients with prediabetes or newly diagnosed diabetes. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT02689765. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) poses a significant threat to human life and health. The intraneuronal accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques in the brains of AD patients results in neuronal cell death, which is a key factor that triggers multiple changes in the pathogenesis of AD. The inhibition of Aβ-induced neuronal cell death may potentially help in the intervention and treatment of AD. Our previous study reported that tumor necrosis factor α-induced protein 1 (TNFAIP1) is induced by and promotes Aβ25–35-induced neurotoxicity in mouse neuronal cells, but the roles and regulatory mechanisms of TNFAIP1 are still largely unknown. In this study, our experimental results show that TNFAIP1 and p-TNFAIP1 (phosphorylation of TNFAIP1 at Ser280) are overexpressed in the neurons of the cortex and hippocampus in the brains of APP/PS1 mice, and the transcription factor NF-κB is involved in the Aβ-induced upregulation of TNFAIP1. Moreover, our results suggest that TNFAIP1 contributes to the Aβ-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (∆Ψm), and neuronal cell death in human SH-SY5Y cells. We further revealed that Aβ increases the binding of TNFAIP1 to RhoB, and knockdown of RhoB attenuates the TNFAIP1-induced apoptosis of human SH-SY5Y cells. These data suggest that TNFAIP1 is closely associated with AD pathogenesis, and overexpression of TNFAIP1 in the neurons of the brains of AD patients plays a role in apoptosis, at least in part, via RhoB signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a type of otolaryngological malignancy with high incidence. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are closely related to nasopharyngeal carcinoma. LncRNA AFAP1-AS1 (AFAP1-AS1) has been found to play important roles in nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression and poor prognosis. However, the mechanism underlying AFAP1-AS1 in regulating nasopharyngeal carcinoma is still unclear. In current study, AFAP1-AS1 was found to be up-regulated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues and cells. AFAP1-AS1 overexpression and knockdown were conducted in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. The results proved that AFAP1-AS1 promoted the survival and migration of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Additionally, specificity protein 1 (SP1) was enhanced in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues and cells, and induced AFAP1-AS1 expression. The interaction between AFAP1-AS1 and miR-497-5p was confirmed. AFAP1-AS1 was demonstrated to regulate CELF1, a target gene of miR-497-5p. Further functional analysis revealed that AFAP1-AS1 knockdown attenuated SP1-induced nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression. These results indicate that SP1-induced AFAP1-AS1 facilitates nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression by regulating miR-497-5p/CELF1 pathway, which provides a new target for nasopharyngeal carcinoma treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and reproducibility of using cardiovascular magnetic resonance feature tracking (CMR-FT) for analysis of bi-ventricular strain and strain rate (SR) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients as well as to explore the correlation between right ventricular (RV) and left ventricular (LV) deformation. Methods: A total of 60 HCM patients and 48 controls were studied. Global and segmental peak values of bi-ventricular longitudinal, circumferential, radial strain, and systolic SR were analyzed. Pearson analysis was performed to investigate the correlation of RV and LV deformation. Intra-observer and inter-observer reproducibility were also assessed. Results: LV mass in the HCM group was significantly higher than that in the control group. LV end-systolic and end-diastolic volume and RV end-systolic and end-diastolic volume in the HCM group were all significantly lower than the correlated parameters in the control group (p < 0.001, respectively), whereas no statistical difference was found in ejection fraction (p > 0.05). Global longitudinal strain (GLS), global longitudinal strain rate (GLSR), global circumferential strain (GCS), global circumferential strain rate (GCSR), global radial strain (GRS), and global radial strain rate (GRSR) of the LV and RV were all significantly lower than the control group, and segmental strain and SR were also true (p < 0.001, respectively). Bi-ventricular strain and SR measurements were highly reproducible at both intra- and inter-observer levels. Additionally, Pearson analysis showed RV GCS, GLS, and GRS positively correlated with LV GCS, GLS, and GRS (r = 0.713, p < 0.001; r = 0.728, p < 0.001; r = 0.730, p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: CMR-FT is a promising approach to analyze impairment of global and segmental myocardium deformation in HCM patients non-invasively and quantitatively. Key Points: • CMR-FT allows for advanced myocardial characterization with high reproducibility. • As compared with controls, HCM patients have significant differences in CMR-FT strain analysis while ejection fraction was similar. • CMR-FT may serve as an early biomarker of HCM in subjects at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate complex and different phenotypes in seven Chinese patients diagnosed with Bardet–Biedl syndrome (BBS) and carrying pathogenic mutations. Methods: Seven unrelated BBS patients were enrolled. Their medical and ophthalmic histories were reviewed, and comprehensive clinical examinations, such as fundus photography, optical coherence tomography, and medical imaging, were performed. A specific hereditary eye disease enrichment panel based on exome-capture technology was used to collect and amplify the protein-coding regions of 441 targeted hereditary eye disease genes, followed by high-throughput sequencing using the Illumina HiSeq platform. Results: All patients exhibited the primary clinical phenotype of BBS. Seven BBS mutations were found in five patients (BBS7 in two patients, BBS10 in two patients, BBS12 in one patient), for a detection rate of 71% (5/7). The ratio of novel to known BBS mutations was 5:2. Conclusions: This study showed the phenotypic and genotypic spectrum of BBS patients from China, and the findings underscore the importance of obtaining comprehensive clinical observations and molecular analyses for ciliopathies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedestrian safety is vital, especially when it comes to crossing at intersections. Setting pedestrian safety facilities is one of the solutions to provide a safer environment for pedestrians to cross at intersections. And most studies have focused on the influence of pedestrian safety facilities on drivers' yielding behavior. Meanwhile, psychological factors underlying drivers' decisions to yield to pedestrians have received little attention. The current study explored the relationship between drivers' yielding behavior and psychological factors using a questionnaire mainly designed based on the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB). Measures of the questionnaire included elements of the theory of planned behavior model, risk perception part, new countermeasure, and traditional countermeasure. Pearson correlation test revealed that young drivers or highly educated drivers were more likely not to yield to pedestrians. Factors analysis proved the extended TPB questionnaire to be valid and reliable. Structural equation modeling showed that attitude (0.23), subjective norm (0.58), perceived behavioral control (0.21), and risk perception (0.38) significantly and directly influenced drivers' yielding intentions. Traditional countermeasure (0.66) and new countermeasure (0.44) significantly influenced drivers' risk perception and then influenced drivers' yielding intentions indirectly. According to these findings, promotion and education on yielding behavior and on the functions of pedestrian safety facility were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The GH (growth hormone)/IGFs (insulin-like growth factors) system has an important function in the regulation of growth. In this system, IGFBPs play a crucial regulatory role in IGF functions. As a member of the IGFBP family, IGFBP2 can bind to IGF and regulate IGF functions to regulate development and growth. In addition, IGFBP2 shows key regulatory functions in cell proliferation and metabolism. In this study, the igfbp2 gene was cloned from grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) liver. The ORF of grass carp igfbp2 is 834 bp long and encodes 277 amino acids. The tissue distribution results showed that igfbp2 is expressed in multiple tissues in grass carp and has a high expression level in the liver. In the OGTT, igfbp2 expression was significantly decreased in the liver and brain after 6 h of treatment with glucose. In vitro, igfbp2 expression in grass carp's primary hepatocytes was significantly suppressed by insulin after treatment for 6 and 12 h. Moreover, igfbp2 expression was markedly increased in a dose-dependent manner with glucagon incubation in grass carp's primary hepatocytes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report about Igfbp2 in grass carp. These results will provide a basis for the in-depth study of grass carp Igfbp2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, Zn/ZnO composite photocatalyst was successfully synthesized by simple hydrothermal method. Photocurrent test shows that the presence of Zn can effectively improve the light response of composites. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy indicates that Zn/ZnO has higher point and separation efficiency and faster carrier transmission. Degradation tests of methyl orange showed that Zn/ZnO had higher degradation efficiency than commercial ZnO. In the same time, Zn/ZnO can degrade nearly 90% of methyl orange, while commercial zinc oxide has less than 10%. Meanwhile, the photocatalyst synthesized in the test of photocatalytic removal of NO also shows higher photocatalytic activity. Compared with commercial ZnO, which removed 48% of NO in 20 min, Zn/ZnO could remove 74% of NO in 8 min, and NO will be further oxidized to NO3− after being oxidized to NO2, which can effectively reduce secondary pollution in the reaction process. These results indicate that Zn/ZnO composite photocatalysts have high photocatalytic activity in both solid–liquid and gas–solid systems. Photodegradation of MO (a), and NO removal (b) photocatalytic mechanism of Zn/ZnO under irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1) infection causes inflammation in the cornea known as herpes simplex virus keratitis (HSK), a common but serious corneal disease. It is not entirely clear whether the virus during recurring infection comes from the trigeminal ganglia or the eye tissue, including the retina and ciliary ganglion. Because the tree shrew is closely related to primates and tree shrew eye anatomic structures are similar to humans, we studied HSV-1 corneal infection in the tree shrew. We found that HSK symptoms closely mimic those found in human HSK showing typical punctiform and dendritic viral keratitis during the acute infection period. Following the HSV-specific lesions, complications such as stromal scarring, corneal thickening (primary infection), opacity, and neovascularization were observed. In the tree shrew model, following ocular inoculation, the cornea becomes infected, and viral protein can be detected using anti-HSV-1 antibodies in the epithelial layer and retina neuronal ganglion cells. The HSV-1 transcripts, ICP0, ICP4, and LAT can be detected at 3 days post-infection (dpi), peaking at 5 dpi. After 2 weeks, ICP4 and ICP0 transcripts are reduced to a basal level, but the Latency Associated Transcripts (LATs) continue to accumulate. Interestingly, after the acute infection, we still detected abundant active HSV-1 in tree shrew eyes. Further, we found HSV-1 persistent in the ciliary ganglion and cornea. These findings are discussed in support of the tree shrew as a non-human primate HSK model, which could be useful for mechanistic studies of HSK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evapotranspiration is a critical hydrological and meteorological variable impacted by climate change. In this study, the annual potential evapotranspiration (ETo) was estimated using the Penman-Montieth method at 104 meteorological stations in Inner Mongolia, China, from 1971 to 2016. The characteristics of seasonal and annual ETo were analyzed using the least squares method and trends of ETo, and its driving meteorological factors were investigated using the Mann-Kendall test. The most influential meteorological factors driving ETo were identified using stepwise regression and partial correlation analysis. Results showed that the annual average (range) ETo was approximately 1050 mm (996–1165 mm), and air temperature was approximately 4 °C (3.25–6.01 °C). ETo decreased over time, suggesting that the evaporation paradox exists. The ETo in summer was the largest followed by that in spring, autumn, and winter. Relative humidity, precipitation, sunshine duration, minimum temperature, maximum temperature, and mean temperature were the main factors influencing the distribution of ETo. Trends of ETo showed a high degree of spatial variability; however, stations showing significant negative trends were generally concentrated in central Inner Mongolia. At an annual time scale, decreased wind speed and sunshine duration were the most important drivers of reduced ETo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]